The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Picea glauca var. densata and will be referred to hereafter by its cultivar name, ‘Charlie J. Nickel’. ‘Charlie J. Nickel’ represents a new cultivar of black hills white spruce, an evergreen plant grown for landscape use.
The inventor discovered ‘Charlie J. Nickel’ as a chance seedling in March of 2001 that was growing in a row of unnamed plants of Picea glauca var. densata that had been lined out in a field plot at his nursery in Manhattan, Kans. The parent plants are therefore unknown. The instant plant may be referred to as a white spruce, a black hills white spruce, or a black hills spruce.
Asexual propagation of the new cultivar was first accomplished by grafting onto Norway Spruce rootstock in McMinnville, Oreg. in January of 2002 under the direction of the Inventor. Asexual propagation by grafting has determined that the characteristics of this cultivar are stable and are reproduced true to type in successive generations.